The Orange County Riptide fell into an early deficit and struggled to find their footing on both sides of the ball, losing 16-5 to the MLB Academy Barons in the CCL South Division Championship at Great Park Wednesday night.
The Riptide were immediately forced to fight a steep uphill battle, as the Barons scored seven runs in the top of the first.
“They’ve always been a good swinging team,” head coach Bryan Evans said. “They hit the ball very well all year. They came ready to play, and we were kind of on our heels after that first inning, and seven runs was something we couldn’t come back from.”
After leadoff man Eiji Sawamura singled and stole second, the floodgates opened and the inning quickly unraveled for Orange County.
Sawamura would score the game’s first run when the 2-hole hitter Marc Emmerman reached via a fielding error by second baseman Madden Ocko.
The bases were loaded shortly after, and back-to-back hit-by-pitches made it 3-0 Barons.
Designated hitter Bryce Morrison then singled to drive in the fourth run of the inning, with Israel Espinoza making it 5-0 after grounding out to first base, flipping over the lineup in the process.
Sawamura would reach for the second time in the inning after an error by shortstop Brock Foulds, scoring Jackson Tyler for the sixth run of the frame.
Emmerman would reach a second time as well, singling to drive in Morrison and giving the Barons a seven-run lead before a fielder’s choice finally brought the inning to an end.
The Barons continued to roll, scoring three more runs in the fourth on a bases-loaded triple from left fielder Jackson Tyler.
The next half inning, the Riptide would show their first signs of life, scoring three runs after a two-RBI single from Reid Montgomery and a wild pitch that brought home Jarett Sabol.
The momentum that seemed to shift the Riptide’s way quickly halted when the Barons scored five more runs on four hits and multiple walks in the top of the fifth to make it a 15-3 ballgame.
Following a scoreless top of the sixth, the Riptide added two runs in the bottom half, with Trajan Rogowski ripping an RBI-triple to score Ocko and Bradley Navarro driving in Rogowski with a single.
After tacking on one more run in the ninth, right-hander Gabriel Concino entered the game for the Barons and closed out the 16-5 victory, sending the Academy to the best-of-three CCL State Championship against the Walnut Creek Crawdads which is set to begin July 31.
The Riptide finish the season with an overall record of 25-17, ultimately falling short of a state title.
